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Most SMS Phishing Targets US Owners of Prepaid Debit cards

Some 54 per cent of SMS phishing campaigns in January, 2014 targeted US owners of prepaid debit cards, according to a report by Cloudmark, a messaging security provider. At the same time, reports of phishing jumped 78 percent in January from a month earlier.

Child support prepaid debit cards were the most targeted, with Achieve Card suffering 90 per cent ratio of the attempts and smiONE NCKIDSCARD child support debit card targeted by the rest.

“It’s likely that attackers favor these prepaid debits due to a relatively lower risk,” said Tom Landesman, security researcher at Cloudmark. “Many of these cards contain very little fraud protection or prevention and can often be used directly from many ATMs to withdraw cash – an appetizing combination for thieves.”

Major banks drew only 3 per cent of phishing attempts in January, with Wells Fargo accounting for 86 per cent of those attempts. Regional or local banks were also targeted with 4 per cent of reported phishing attempts.